1. Anthony Holehouse complained to the Independent Press
Standards Organisation that the Daily Mail breached Clause 1 (Accuracy), Clause
2 (Privacy) and Clause 4 (Intrusion into grief or shock) of the Editors’ Code of
Practice in an article headlined “So why did Kirsty fall 100ft to her death at
8am?”, published on 13 May 2017.

2. The article reported that the complainant had been one of
five men staying in a holiday apartment when a woman fell from the balcony and
died.

3. The complainant said that reporting that he had been in the
apartment at the time of the woman’s death had intruded into his private life
and into his grief following the tragedy. He also said that the newspaper had
inaccurately reported that he had been taking drugs when the woman died.

4. The newspaper did not accept any breach of the Code. While
it said that it appreciated that the sudden tragedy may have had an unpleasant
impact on the complainant, this was an important news event, involving the
police, and the complainant was a witness. Furthermore, the article had not
reported that the complainant had been taking drugs when the woman died. In
light of the complainant’s concerns, however, it offered to amend the online
article to state that “some” of the men had been taking cocaine, and it offered
to append the following note:

Mr Anthony Holehouse, one of the ‘Benidorm 5’ men referred
to in the article, has contacted us to say that he had not taken cocaine in the
apartment.

Relevant Code provisions:

5. Clause 1 (Accuracy)

i) The Press must take care not to publish inaccurate,
misleading or distorted information or images, including headlines not
supported by the text.

ii) A significant inaccuracy, misleading statement or
distortion must be corrected, promptly and with due prominence, and — where
appropriate — an apology published. In cases involving IPSO, due prominence
should be as required by the regulator.

Clause 2 (Privacy)

i) Everyone is entitled to respect for his or her private
and family life, home, health and correspondence, including digital
communications.

ii) Editors will be expected to justify intrusions into any
individual's private life without consent. Account will be taken of the
complainant's own public disclosures of information.

iii) It is unacceptable to photograph individuals, without
their consent, in public or private places where there is a reasonable
expectation of privacy.

Clause 4 (Intrusion into grief or shock)

In cases involving personal grief or shock, enquiries and
approaches must be made with sympathy and discretion and publication handled
sensitively. These provisions should not restrict the right to report legal
proceedings.

Mediated outcome

6. The complaint was not resolved through direct correspondence
between the parties. IPSO therefore began an investigation into the matter.

7. During IPSO’s investigation of the complaint, the newspaper
offered to amend the online article to make clear that only one of the men in
the apartment had taken cocaine.

8. As the complaint was successfully mediated, the Complaints
Committee did not make a determination as to whether there had been any breach
of the Code.